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2012 Turks and Caicos Islands general election

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15 of the 21 seats in the House of Assembly
First party Second party   Leader Rufus Ewing Oswald Skippings Party PNP PDM Seats won 8 7 Popular vote 2,833 3,164 Percentage 44.89% 50.13%
Premier before election None Office suspended Elected Premier Rufus Ewing PNP

Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands
Constitution
Monarchy Sovereign Charles III Governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam Deputy Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands Anya Williams
Executive Premier Washington Misick Cabinet
Legislative House of Assembly Speaker: Gordon Burton
Elections Recent elections General: 2016 2021 2025 Political parties Progressive National Party (PNP) People's Democratic Movement (PDM)
Administrative divisions
Citizenship Belonger status British Overseas Territories citizen Passport Visa requirements
Foreign relations Proposed unification with Canada
Other countries
v t e

General elections were held in Turks and Caicos Islands on 9 November 2012. The PNP won the election, winning eight seats with the PDM winning seven. The PNP won most of its seats by narrow margins over the PDM, while the PDM won its seats by wide margins over the PNP, with the result that despite winning fewer seats and thereby losing the election, the PDM garnered more overall votes nationwide.

Background

In 2009 the British government had imposed direct rule over the islands after an inquiry discovered evidence of corruption and incompetence in the islands' government. The islands' government was suspended for two years and the British-appointed governor given executive power over the territory.

On 12 June 2012 British Foreign Secretary William Hague announced that fresh elections would be held in November 2012, stating that there had been "significant progress with an ambitious reform programme" and that there had been "sufficient progress, on the milestones and on putting in place robust financial controls"

A new constitution came into force on 15 October 2012. The terms of the election are specified in the constitution.

Electoral system

Following the 2007 elections, the number of single-member constituencies was reduced from 15 to 10. However, an additional five members were elected at-large at the national level, with voters able to vote for up to five at-large candidates. According to a report on 12 October, there were 6,896 verified electors in the Electors Register, with an additional 349 to be published in a supplementary register later.

Candidates

On Nomination Day, 25 October, a total of thirty-seven candidates were officially nominated. Among them were fifteen each from the Progressive National Party (PNP) and the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), five from the newly formed People's Progressive Party (PPP), and two independents.

The below list of candidates comes from the Turks and Caicos Islands Elections Office. Election results were confirmed on November 9, 2012, for local voting districts, and on November 12, 2012, for the at-large seats.

Results

Party		District			At-large			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	People's Democratic Movement	3,164	50.13	4	15,431	50.71	3	7	+5
	Progressive National Party	2,833	44.89	6	14,764	48.52	2	8	–5
	People's Progressive Party	310	4.91	0				0	New
	Independents	4	0.06	0	233	0.77	0	0	0
Nominated members								4	–
Ex officio members								2	–
Total		6,311	100.00	10	30,428	100.00	5	21	0
Valid votes		6,311	99.35
Invalid/blank votes		41	0.65
Total votes		6,352	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		7,245	87.67
Source: Caribbean Elections

By constituency

Subsequent by-election

PDM candidate Isaac Selver filed an election petition in the Supreme Court regarding the results in Electoral District 7, in which he had lost to Amanda Misick of the PNP by 30 votes. Selver's petition stated that PPP candidate Edward Smith was ineligible to stand for election by reason of his dual citizenship and dual allegiance to the United States and the Turks and Caicos Islands, and that the 58 votes that went to Smith had affected the outcome of the election and could have resulted in Selver's victory over Misick. In a December 2012 interview, Smith claimed that he had renounced U.S. citizenship by taking an oath of allegiance to the Queen in order to take up a position in the Turks and Caicos government. However, he had used his United States passport to travel to the United States in July 2012 after that oath. On 7 February 2013, the Supreme Court ruled the election void. A by-election was held on 22 March 2013. Amanda Misick won with 455 votes against Isaac Selver's 385.

References

1. ^ Foreign Secretary statement announces elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands Foreign & Commonwealth Office
2. http://suntci.com/pnp-wins-seats-pdm-p435-108.htm
3. ^ UK imposes Turks and Caicos rule BBC News, 14 August 2009
4. Governor Todd Signs Constitution Proclamation Turks & Caicos Weekly News Online
5. ^ Political Party Leaders Pleased With Proposed Boundaries. Turks and Caicos Weekly News
6. Basic election ballot rules released TCI News Now, 3 September 2012
7. Tyson, Vivian (2012-10-12). "Election results will be delayed". Turks & Caicos Sun. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
8. Tyson, Vivian (2012-10-25). "37 candidates nominated". Turks & Caicos Sun. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
9. "List of nominated candidates for General Elections 2012" (PDF). Turks & Caicos Islands Elections Office. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
10. "Turks and Caicos Islands Election Results" Archived 2012-11-16 at the Wayback Machine. Guide 2 Turks and Caicos, 13 November 2012.
11. "At-Large results stand". Turks and Caicos Weekly News, 13 November 2012.
12. Tyson, Vivian (2012-11-26). "Dr. Smith says he renounced US Citizenship". Turks and Caicos Sun. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
13. "Court declares Provo district election void". TCI News Now. 2013-02-07. Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
14. "Amanda Missick wins by-election -PNP maintains power". Turks and Caicos Weekly News. 25 March 2013.

v t e Elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands
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• 2012 elections in British Overseas Territories
• 2012 in the Turks and Caicos Islands
• Elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands
• 2012 elections in the Caribbean
• November 2012 events in North America